Alpina B10 V8 | High Mile Club

The joy of cars, as we all sometimes need reminding of, is that everything can be replaced or upgraded. They are, at the end of the day, collections of metal, rubber and plastic made into vehicles that we then dedicate far too much time, money and effort to. Stuff wears out, a new part can be ordered. Or, if the part isn’t available, somebody clever somewhere can probably make a replacement. At considerably more cost, yes, but where there’s a will there’s a way. As many a car restorer must have thought quite a few times. 

When the car is worth something, either in terms of financial or sentimental value, then it’s easy to justify the expense. It’s trickier, if not impossible, to make the numbers work when repair cost outweighs resale value, but that’s where the man maths comes in. Once more, if you want to make it work, you’re going to make it work. 

An Alpina would be very easy to justify extensive recommissioning on. They’re all glorious cars for one thing, and that specialness – along with the rarity – tends to keep residuals pretty resilient. So big miles certainly aren’t unfamiliar: they really are epic ground coverers, so money is spent keeping them in fine fettle. See the moon miles D3 thread in Reader’s Cars for proof. Some extra Alpina love on a BMW base makes them mega mile munchers. 

Combine that approach with 1990s German build quality and the result is very special: this is an Alpina B10 4.0, the first V8-engined Alpina and introduced years before there was a similarly configured M5. Taking the M60 BMW engine, Mahle pistons, intake changes and a new ECU meant more than 300hp for the B10. With the usual raft of Alpina chassis changes, it was the ultimate exec express of the 1990s. 

This one was one of just two right-hand 4.0s (later Alpina E34s would get a larger V8), and it was absolutely used as intended, accruing 100,000 miles in its first four years. There were BMW main dealer appointments more often than quarterly business reviews: 16 times between 1994 and 1998. By 2001 the Alpina had already done 150,000 miles. Then comes the really interesting bit; the first digital MOTs show a car still soldiering on, but desperately in need of some TLC. Some tests show as many advisories as there are spokes on those Alpina wheels. So it came off the road in 2013 and has been subjected to an extraordinary restoration that’s totalled £50,000. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, remember. 

The result is sensational, one of the smartest-looking old BMWs we’ve seen in yonks. Use has been much more sparing in the last few years than in its first, though if any car looks fighting fit to cruise through 200,000 miles, this must be it. And what a great time to take on a classic Alpina, with the Bovensiepens now preserving what already exists and BMW moving the brand forward. Make a brew, get comfy, and enjoy a great advert for an awesome Alpina. There really can’t be any better.